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About this quote

What does it mean?
Postmodern life lacks unified meaning, leaving people unsure despite expert knowledge.
In plain terms
Experts know facts but we still feel unsure about life.
What can you take from it?
Accept uncertainty in a complex world.

Where it applies

  • philosophy classes
  • personal crises
  • tech debates

Putting it to work

  • study philosophy
  • accept ambiguity
  • find local meaning

Questions to consider

  • Do you feel understood?
  • What guides your life?

Another view

Some shared meanings still exist in communities.

More from Vaclav Havel

  1. Classical modern science described only the surface of things, a single dimension of reality. And the more dogmatically science treated it as the only dimensio…

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  2. Our civilization has essentially globalized only the surfaces of our lives. But our inner self continues to have a life of its own. And the fewer answers the e…

    Permalink to quote #96
  3. The relationship to the world that the modern science fostered and shaped now appears to have exhausted its potential. It is increasingly clear that, strangely…

    Permalink to quote #93

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